Now, there is an image processing system in which a scanner, a facsimile machine, a copy machine, or a multifunctional peripheral acting as a combination of these machines, a personal computer, a mail server, and so on are connected together via a network, and office processing is performed using their services cooperating with each other.
For example, according to a technique described in PTL (Patent Literature) 1, a workflow to be executed by an apparatus is created by classifying unit processes according to types of functions which the apparatus has and combining the processes. The apparatus performs processing in cooperation with other services according to the created workflow.
Moreover, there has been proposed an image processing system described hereafter. A user who administrates a predetermined range of domain obtains performance and settings of image forming apparatuses within the domain from the individual image forming apparatuses (or data processing apparatuses) within the domain and servers managing the image forming apparatuses using an administration terminal. Based on the obtained information on the individual image forming apparatuses, the user on the administration terminal generates definitions in an image processing operation to be processed on the individual image forming apparatuses.
At this time, the user on the administration terminal verifies the generated process definition ticket (in which processing performance and settings of the image forming apparatuses are described) and the obtained information on the image forming apparatuses. By doing this, the user on the administration terminal checks whether or not the process definition ticket is executable on the individual image forming apparatuses.
The user on the administration terminal registers the generated process definition ticket in a ticket management server that offers a directory service and so on. After that, in executing an operation using a specific image forming apparatus installed within the domain, a user obtains the process definition ticket from the server in which the process definition ticket is registered. Then, the image forming apparatus executes processing according to the definitions in the obtained process definition ticket. Finally, the image forming apparatus sends the definitions of the executed operation and data obtained as the processing result of the operation to an external communication apparatus.
In this manner, in the image processing system, the user on the administration terminal generates definitions in an image processing operation to be executed on the individual image processing apparatuses. By verifying the generated definitions and obtained information on the image forming apparatuses, the user on the administration terminal checks whether or not descriptive contents of the process definition ticket are executable on the individual image forming apparatuses. After that, the process definition ticket is used and executed on a specific image forming apparatus within the same domain by a user.